SALIF KEITA: Talé - new album out 11th Feb

Live dates:
Friday 1st February – Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow
Wednesday 13th February: Royal Festival Hall, London

Africa’s finest, most soulful singer, Salif Keita, releases a new album, Talé, on Monday 11th February. Produced by Philippe Cohen Solal of Gotan Project and featuring guest appearances from Roots Manuva, Esperanza Spalding, Bobby McFerrin and Manu Dibango, Talé is full of surprises - pushing musical boundaries and bridging gaps between the past and the future.
Philippe Cohen Solal met Salif Keita in January 2011 and they both agreed they wanted to breathe new life into the Mandingo tradition. “I want it to dance!”, says Salif. “Philippe’s approach suited me: he loves traditional instruments so we kept that sound but injected a new flavour.” The idea was to take Salif’s song format and adapt it to the dance-floor.
Salif’s simple guitar and voice lay the foundations for the album’s melodies and harmonies while the rhythmical motifs are woven in by Aboussi Cissoko (n’goni), Mamane Diabate (balafon), Prince (calabash), together with Cyril Atef from Bumcello (drums and percussion), The Dap Kings’ Hagar Ben Ari (bass) and Christophe Chassol (string arrangements).
Special guests include the great Manu Dibango on saxophone and Bobby McFerrin, who improvises a soft melody on ‘Simbi’. The light, high voice of Esperanza Spalding combines with Salif’s vocals on ‘Cherie S’en Va’, a dedication to young girls who leave home to marry and ‘C’est Bon, C’est Bon’ features the unmistakable rapping tones of Roots Manuva.
Traditional instruments are used to push musical boundaries – the distinctive sound of the calabash takes us back to the sound of Seventies Disco, the sticky afro-beats to Detroit. On ‘Samfi’ a sample from the B52s’ ‘Planet Claire’ slips between the strings of the n’goni. In ‘Tassi’, Philippe introduces the sound of Cumbia, with Cuban Pity Cabrera on piano and Frank Rubio on bass.
“You think you’re taking the music somewhere, but it’s the music that’s guiding you; it’s the music that decides where to stop or when to keep on exploring”, says Philippe.
‘Natty’ features the vocals of Salif’s youngest daughter, Natty Keita, who says to him “Je t’aime/m’bife” and his answer, full of love and humour, symbolising a lightness of spirit that is reflected across the whole album.
Often described as “the golden voice of Africa”, Salif Keita struggled growing up in Mali, cast out by his family as an albino and ostracised by the community. He left his village for Bamako in the late 1960s, joined the Super Rail Band and then Les Ambassadeurs, fleeing the country in the mid 1970s for Cote d’Ivoire. In the early 1980s he moved to Paris to reach a wider audience and from there he became an international star. Now based in Bamako and Paris, he is considered one of Mali’s greatest singers, releasing many highly acclaimed albums – Soro (1987), Folon (1995), Moffou (2002), M’Bemba (2005), La Difference (2009) – to name but a few.
Salif plays two UK concerts in February – the Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow on 1st February, as part of Celtic Connections and at the Royal Festival Hall, London on 13th February.
Talé is released on Monday 11th February 2013.
‘C’est Bon C’est Bon (feat Roots Manuva): https://soundcloud.com/yabastarecords/salif-keita-cest-bon-cest;